Download Activity Title: Gummy Bear Population Genetics

Activity Title: Gummy Bear Population Genetics
Activity Description: Using gummy bears, students explore the basics of
population genetics and the connections between genetics and natural selection.
Students are also introduced to the concept of incomplete dominance. Students
will choose two initial breeding pairs from their bags. Then, following the rules of
gummy bear inheritance, the students will continue to choose and predict the
offspring based on the characteristics of the original breeding pairs. This activity
emphasizes the randomness inherent in genetics. Also, students will practice
using Punnett squares and review phenotypes and genotypes.
Section of the Larger Unit: This lecture and activity provide information on the
role of genetics in evolution and ecology. It can be used by itself or as a followup activity after background information has been provided by the DNA extraction
and genetic traits lectures and activities.
Activity Objectives:
 Students will demonstrate the randomness associated with the passing of
alleles from parents to offspring.
 Students will know the concept of incomplete dominance.
 Students will review the concepts of dominant and recessive alleles and
genotypes and phenotypes.
 Students will recognize the relationship between genetics, the
environment, and adaptation.
 Students will apply basic genetics concepts to individuals and to
populations.
California State Content Standards Addressed:
 Biology Standard 2c) Students know how random chromosome
segregation explains the probability that a particular allele will be in a
gamete.
 Biology Standard 2d) Students know new combinations of alleles may be
generated in a zygote through the fusion of male and female gametes
(fertilization).
 Biology Standard 2e) Students know why approximately half of an
individual’s DNA sequence comes from each parent.
 Biology Standard 2g) Students know how to predict possible combinations
of alleles in a zygote from the genetic makeup of the parents.
 Biology Standard 3a) Students know how to predict the probable
outcomes of phenotypes in a genetic cross from the genotypes of the
parent and the mode of inheritance (autosomal or X-linked, dominant or
recessive).
 Biology Standard 7a) Students know why natural selection acts on the
phenotype rather than on the genotype of an organism.

Biology Standard 7d) Students know variation within a species increases
the likelihood that at least some members of a species will survive under
changed environmental conditions.
Materials Needed:
 brown paper bags
 red, orange, yellow, white, and green gummy bears with 4 bears of each
color in each paper bag (1 set per group)
 copies of worksheets (1 per group)
 copies of gummy bear genetics chart (1 per group)
Duration: designed to take up 55 minutes of a 90 minute period
Groups: students work in groups of 2 to 3
Prior Knowledge Needed: Students need to be familiar with the following
concepts before completing the activity (this may be accomplished through a
short lecture prior to beginning the activity):
 Dominant and recessive alleles
 Phenotypes and genotypes
 Incomplete dominance
 Punnett squares
 Adaptation
 Evolution through natural selection
Background:
This lesson will explore the relationship between evolution and genetics.
It should be used after both topics have been covered (at least preliminarily).
These two topics are fundamentally connected, but they are usually discussed
and handled separately in biology classes.
Evolution works through the process of natural selection. Natural
selection is the process through which the traits that are most likely to help an
organism survive and reproduce become more common in a given population. A
well known example of natural selection is industrial melanism of the peppered
moth. In England at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, soot, dirt, and
smoke darkened the trunks of trees and killed off the light colored lichens that
grew on the tree trunks. The peppered moth, Biston betularia, was found in two
morphs dark and light. The dark colored moth was rare prior to 1819. Through
time, the dark colored moths (which were now much less visible to predators
when the moths were sitting on the tree trunks) became much more common
than they had previously been. There was a catch and recapture study
conducted in 1950 that showed a large difference in the number of dark colored
moths recaptured in industrial woods (those with darker tree trunks) and nonindustrial woods (those with lighter tree trunks).
Another example of natural selection is antibiotic resistance in bacteria.
As antibiotics are used, most of the bacteria are killed. However, a small number
of bacteria do survive. These surviving bacteria will reproduce, and their
offspring are also likely to be resistant to the antibiotics. These differences are
caused by chance mutations in the DNA of the bacteria. There are mutations in
any population, most of which have no effect. However, when there is such a
strong environmental driver, the few individuals who possess those mutations will
survive and have a disproportionally large impact on the genetic make-up of
future generations of the bacteria. Antibiotic resistance has become especially
well known with regards methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Staph infections often affect people in close quarters, such as hospitals and
prisons. As the use of antibiotics has increased, strains of staph that are
resistant to many antibiotics, including penicillin and methicillin have emerged.
These infections are incredibly difficult to treat because most antibiotics are
ineffective in treating them.
A third example of natural selection is Darwin’s finches. The Galapagos
Islands are a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean. Each island has different
plants and animals that live there. There are finches found on most of those
islands. The finches look very similar. The only visible difference between them
is their beaks. Some have beaks that are better for cracking seeds while others
have beaks that are better for getting insects out of the ground. The beaks
correspond to the most abundant type of food on a given island. Islands with lots
of available insects have finches with beaks that are really effective at eating the
bugs.
This relates back to genetics because natural selection needs something
to select from. Sexual reproduction and the ability to pass traits from one
generation to the next are what allow natural selection to work. The fact that
through sexual reproduction, there is a recombination of the alleles of the parents
(which were recombinations of their parents and so on) means that there are a
variety of alleles within a population. If there was no variability, there can be no
selection because there is nothing to select from.
If there is no variation, there can be no natural selection. That is why
sexual reproduction is such a good strategy. It leads to increased genetic
diversity by randomly combining the alleles of the parents. Every generation
creates new combinations of alleles.
In order for one trait become “better” than another one, there has to be a
reason. For example, in humans, there is no advantage or disadvantage to
having brown eyes over having blue eyes. Brown eyes are more common
because they are the dominant allele, but there is no natural selection for them.
If the environment changed so that brown eyes were a disadvantage, blue eyes
would become much more common. If there is no change in the environment or
no some reason that one trait is more advantageous than another, there will be
no pressure to remove that allele from the population. It will follow normal
inheritance proportions (like those determined by the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
principle) based on the dominance/recessive pattern for the alleles leading to that
trait.
The traits that are selected for will give the individuals that display those
traits advantages in the form of increased survivorship and increased production
of offspring. In other words, the individuals who have the “good” traits will survive
to pass those traits along to their offspring. The ones with the “bad” traits won’t
be able to pass their genes (traits) on as effectively.
Eventually, unless the environment changes in a different way, the “bad”
traits will become increasingly rare, and may disappear completely. The good
traits will become more and more common. Though enough generations, not
only may the physical trait be lost, but all genetic traces of a gene can be lost
from a population (this takes a very long time, and may or may not ever happen
completely).
Divergence of populations can lead to speciation. If two (or more)
populations become so genetically distinct that they can no longer produce viable
offspring, they are considered to be two distinct species. This is generally driven
by environmental changes that impact different populations in different ways.
It is important to remember that the change in environment did not cause
the change in the organisms. The variation had to exist within the gene pool of
the population before the environment changed in order for it to appear in the
later generations of the organism. However, because the advantage was so
great, the organisms that carry the advantageous alleles have more offspring.
These traits were selected by the environment, not created by it.
The variation in populations comes from recombinations of genes as well
as through random mutations in the genes. The mutations occur naturally. They
can happen just because mistakes happen whenever something is done millions
of times. It can also happen as a result of environmental factors (like UV
radiation causing skin cancer). There are five main types of mutations:
insertions, deletions, frame shifts, inversions, and point mutations.
Insertions: Extra segments of DNA are inserted (can be one base or many
bases) is inserted incorrectly into a DNA strand.
Example:
The cat ate the mat.
Insertion:
The cat ate the rat mat.
Deletion: Segments of the DNA (one base or many bases) are deleted from the
DNA strand.
Example:
The cat ate the mat.
Deletion:
The cat the mat.
Frame Shifts: Pieces of DNA that aren’t in multiples of 3 are inserted or deleted
into the strand. DNA is read in sets of 3 (called codons). For example, deleting
1 base will change the way that all the following sets of 3 are read.
Example:
The cat ate the mat.
Frame Shift: The ata tet hem at
Inversions: A section of DNA is reversed.
Example:
The cat ate the mat.
Inversion:
The cat eht eta mat.
Point Mutations:
Point mutations occur when only one base is changed. This
can cause problems (by changing the amino acid that a codon codes for) or not
depending on where the change occurs and what the change is.
Example:
The cat ate the mat.
Point Mutation:
The cat tte the mat.
So, to summarize, DNA mutations create new alleles within populations.
The alleles are recombined through sexual reproduction, producing new traits.
As environments change, different traits may become dangerous or
advantageous. The parents with advantageous traits are more fit, so they have
more offspring (some of which will carry the advantageous trait). Through many
generations, the advantageous traits will become more and more common in the
population.
Relevant Scientific References:
Kettlewell H.B.D. (1955). Selection experiments on industrial melanism in the
Lepidoptera. Heredity 9:323-242
Kettlewell H.B.D. (1956). Further selection experiments on industrial melanism in
the Lepidoptera. Heredity 10:287-301
Schito, G.C. (2006). The importance of the development of antibiotic resistance
in Staphylococcus aureus. Clinical Microbiology and Infection 12 Suppl.
1: 3-8.
Instructional Strategy:
Engage: Ask students to make lists comparing and contrasting the fields of
evolution and genetics. Discuss their lists as a class.
Explore: Have students work in groups of 2 or 3 to complete all sections of the
Gummy Bear Population Genetics activity except for the thought questions
(complete questions 1 through 47 and leave out questions 48 through 52).
Explain: Give students a short lecture, giving them examples of natural selection
and explaining the mechanisms that create genetic variability within a population.
Elaborate: Have students answer the thought questions of the Gummy Bear
Population Genetics Activity (questions 48 through 52).
Evaluate: Give students an example of environmental change that would select
for some characteristics over others. Have students come up with an experiment
to test the change of frequency in the morphs after the change as compared to
the frequencies before the change.
Reflection on Practice: This activity worked very well. The students practiced
making Punnett squares. The students gained a much better understanding of
the random nature of the sorting of alleles. They also began to see that genetics
impacts not only the reproduction of individuals, but of populations and species.
This activity seemed to make the genetics (which is a fairly abstract set of ideas)
section more relevant to what they saw around them. It might be a good idea to
have another snack for the students after the activity because the gummy bears
used in the activity are handled and put onto the lab benches/desks.
Additional Resources:
http://www.millerandlevine.com/km/evol/Moths/moths.html Information on many
studies relating to the peppered moth
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_01 UC Berkeley site with lots
of information about many aspects of evolution (with examples and
diagrams)
http://science.discovery.com/interactives/literacy/darwin/darwin.html Natural
selection info and game by the Science Channel
Author: Alison Cawood, Scripps Classroom Connection NSF GK-12 fellow